


The Femme Fatale

by Pigzxo



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Pining, Self-Harm, Sharing a Bed, a hint of archie/ronnie but not enough to worry about, actual tags? what are actual tags?, and some unrequited betty/archie, jughead and betty as best friends is my aesthetic, your friendly neighbourhood asexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9607994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigzxo/pseuds/Pigzxo
Summary: When Betty realizes she has feelings for Veronica, their upcoming spa weekend becomes a source of anxiety.





	

Betty smiled as she saw Veronica headed her way. She closed her locker and waited. Veronica smiled back and Betty felt her heart flip-flop, the way it used to for Archie, the way she wouldn’t quite admit meant something more than friendship. She bit her lip and looked down at Veronica’s shoes – black kitten heels that definitely wouldn’t fly for their Chem lab.

            “Hey, Bets,” Veronica said.

            Betty raised her eyes to meet the other girl’s. “Hey. Good morning?”

            “So far, so good.” Veronica adjusted the coat slung over her arm. “I had fun last night. Even if I got about three hours of sleep after that movie. Remind me again why I let you convince me horror movies are funny?”

            Betty laughed. “Some horror movies are funny. I admit that one was an exception.”

            When Veronica laughed too, Betty felt her cheeks flush under the other girl’s attention. Veronica reached out and touched her arm, her thumb rubbing circles on the inside of Betty’s elbow. “Well, you’ll have to make it up to me. Flowers, maybe? Yellow’s for friendship.”

            Betty wondered what the colour for _I have a massive fucking crush on you_ was. Not that she did. Veronica just... exuded something special that Betty was drawn too. And it was probably nothing. It would go away in a few weeks when she got used to Veronica’s presence, to her smile, to the way she just reached out and touched Betty and immediately made her feel calmer. Yeah. It was a passing phase. A normal reaction to getting used to a new person in your life.

            Veronica was talking – something about massages and a spa just out of town – and Betty nodded along. She didn’t notice that Jughead had stopped beside them until Veronica’s eyes glanced to him. Betty quickly did a double take and tried to smile at him as brightly as she’d smiled at Veronica.

            “Tell me you have the math homework,” Jughead said.

            Betty blinked. “Why?”

            “Because I probably didn’t do it and I’m definitely at risk of failing if I don’t hand in yet another assignment.”

            “You know I don’t like cheating.”

            Jughead saluted. “Sir, yes, sir. But I really don’t have time for you to tutor me and, anyways, I’m not sure you’re actually better at math than I am. You’re just a lot less lazy. So help a guy out? I don’t want to sit through that drivel for another year.”

            Betty stared at him blankly.

            Then Veronica took her hand in both of hers and held it up to her chin. Betty lost her breath momentarily, her eyes flicking to Veronica’s puppy dog eyes. “Please, Bets?” Veronica said. “If only so he leaves us alone.”

            Jughead winked. “Love you too, Ronnie. Don’t forget, Archie will believe me if I say you have crabs.”

            To stop Veronica from murdering Jughead, Betty said, “Okay, fine,” and started to dig in her bag for the math homework. She handed the stapled pages to Jughead. “I need those back at lunch.”

            Jughead saluted again and walked away.

            Betty watched Veronica as she watched him walk away. When she turned back, Betty made a show of looking like she’d been watching Jughead too. Veronica rolled her eyes. “He’s a weird guy, isn’t he?”

            “You’ll get used to him.”

            “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

            Betty shrugged. “Jughead doesn’t really like anyone. Except Archie. And even that’s been off and on for years.”

            “Likes him, likes him?”

            Betty laughed, shook her head. “No. Jughead doesn’t _like_ like anyone. At all. Not even Archie.”

            Veronica shrugged, then grabbed Betty’s hand again. Betty felt a thrill shoot through her at the sudden contact, at the smile on Veronica’s face. “What?” Betty said.

            “It’s a long weekend,” she said. “Tell me you’ll come up to the city with me. We can find a nice spa and spend the weekend naked and pampering ourselves.”

            Betty’s brain short-circuited at the word _naked_ but she managed a nod and a smile. “Sounds great.”

            The bell rang, giving Betty sudden relief from Veronica’s touch and her smile. Veronica backed away with a frown and a childlike wave. Betty waved back, watching until the other girl turned, and then headed the other way, forcing herself to take deep breaths.

            She was lost deep in her thoughts by the time someone bumped into her.

            “Jughead?” Betty frowned and looked around the hallway like maybe he was a hallucination. But, sure enough, he was walking right beside her. “I thought you were going the other way.”

            “I was,” he said. “I came back as per my duty as your friendly neighbourhood asexual to tell you that that wasn’t straight and neither are you. Thank you for your time.”

            Before Betty could open her mouth to respond, Jughead had turned and disappeared into the hallway crowd. She stopped cold, waiting for her brain to catch up to what the hell had just happened. Her mouth open, her eyes over her shoulder, she didn’t move until Kevin laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched.

            “You all right?” he asked.

            Betty nodded. “Of course. We should get going.”

            Kevin smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He started to talk about something but Betty couldn’t focus on it. She had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ignoring her own feelings was something she could do. Fighting with herself was easy; she did it every day of her life. But convincing Jughead of something he didn’t believe, that was near impossible.

 

At lunch, Betty skirted around her usual table in favour of finding Jughead in the back corner, alone and bent over his laptop. She slammed down her tray across from him and he didn’t even look up.

            “Jughead,” she said in her most serious voice.

            “What’s up, blondie?”

            “You can’t just go around saying things like that to people and then disappearing.” Betty sat down on the bench and fixed her best glare on Jughead’s bent head. “It’s like dropping a bomb and then refusing to accept responsibility for the consequences.”

            “Please. I didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know.”

            “Yes, you did! Or didn’t.” Betty pressed her lips together and curled her hands into fists. She felt her nails bite into her skin. Shaking her head, she steadied herself with a breath. “What you said wasn’t true.”

            For the first time, Jughead looked up, every inch of his expression doubtful. “While denial is an interesting plot device and an annoying one, too, it doesn’t usually work that well in real life.”

            Betty shrugged. “I don’t have to listen to you. I don’t even know why I _would_ listen to you. It’s not like you know anything about this sort of stuff.”

            “True, but you’ve got to realize that if even I can tell two people have sexual tension, you’re in too deep.”

            Betty opened her mouth to bite back a response, but closed it quickly. She had no good retort to that. As stupid as it might sound, Jughead actually had a point. She sighed. “Fine. Let’s say you’re right. Not, of course, actually admitting that you’re right, but if you were right, then what should I do?”

            Jughead snorted and shook his head. He went back to looking at his laptop. “Sorry, Bets. That is not my department. Go talk to Kevin.”

            Betty slammed the laptop closed and Jughead pulled his fingers out just in time. Keeping her hand on top of the laptop, Betty said, “Listen to me very closely. You got me into this mess, so you’re gonna get me out of it.”

            “Technically Veronica got you into it,” he said. “I accept absolutely no responsibility for other people’s hormones.”

            “Please, Jughead?” Betty didn’t quite know what had caused the break in her voice but it did make Jughead’s expression soften ever so slightly. “I can’t tell Kevin because he’ll just tell the next five people he talks to. And Archie won’t get it and it’s not like I can just tell Veronica—”

            “I’ve never gotten that, actually. Explain. Why when you have a crush on someone can you not just tell them and get it over with?”

            Betty stared at him for a second and then laughed. She covered her face with her hands. After a long moment, she shook her head and looked back at him. “You’re going to be no help at all, are you?”

            “Sorry.”

            Betty nodded and slid off of the bench. “You know you can sit with us, right? Archie’s not mad at you anymore.”

            “Honestly? Archie mooning over Veronica. You mooning over both of them. Kevin talking about Moose?” Jughead shook his head. “I’d much rather be alone with my laptop.”

            “Right. Thanks for talking to me.”

            “Happy to be of no help at any time.”

            Betty laughed and turned away as he reopened his laptop. She threaded back through the tables to find her friends and plopped down beside Kevin. He smiled, she smiled back, he stole a fry. Betty stared at Veronica who stared at Archie who stared down at his guitar. It figured, really. Whether Betty wanted the boy next door or the femme fatale, she ended up the unwanted goody-two-shoes.

 

For the rest of the week, Betty suffered more than she had in her whole life. Knowing that she had feelings for Veronica was infinitely worse than denying that she had feelings for Veronica. She smiled through innocent touches, tried not to stare too much during cheer practice – really, those black short shorts were unfair – and stayed completely stoic when Veronica told her Archie had asked her out. Betty didn’t know who she was more jealous over. She didn’t really understand anything she was feeling anymore.

            “He said Friday night and I asked if we could do right after school because we’re going to drive into the city Friday night and he said that worked for him and... Betty. Oh, Betty, tell me if this is too hard for you and I will cancel in an instant. I swear.”

            Betty almost flinched away from Veronica grabbing her hands but forced herself not to. With a smile, she shook her head. “No. You were right. Archie doesn’t like me back and I have to get over that. You two go. Have a good time. I’ll see you afterwards.”

            Veronica squealed and pulled Betty into a tight hug. A hug that Betty didn’t reciprocate all that readily. All she could think of as she pulled Veronica to her was that the last time they had been this close. The last time Veronica had grabbed her unexpectedly, they’d been kissing _Faux lesbian kissing._ Betty wasn’t sure how fake it had been, not on her part. Veronica, on the other hand, seemed not to remember the incident at all.

            When Veronica pulled away, Betty gave her her best _good luck_ smile. And as soon as she walked away, Betty let her face fall. She gripped the grates of her locker, felt the metal scrape into her skin, and fought to breathe. Fought hard not to cry.

            Soon, Jughead found her and spent several seconds trying to figure out what the hell to do before he pulled her into a hug. She gripped him tight and sobbed into his shoulder, tried to focus on the soothing tones of his voice in her ear.

            Jughead unintentionally became her rock after that. He spent the next two days at her side – even at lunch – and would pull her attention away every time Veronica or Archie or both of them lapsed into anything romantic. Betty relied on Jughead in those moments, probably too much. But it kept her from cutting up her hands with her nails, from breaking down in the middle of class, and outing herself to both of them as not okay. And bisexual.

            Friday came, the last bell rang, and Betty found herself at her locker with Jughead at her side. He had offered to walk her home and watch bad movies with her until the date was over. But now she had other worries.

            “Veronica booked a hotel room with one bed,” Betty said as she shoved books into her locker. “She bought a freaking couples massage package so that they wouldn’t separate us. I don’t know if she’s actually trying to kill me or if she’s just never met a girl who likes girls before or maybe she just doesn’t know how freaking adorable she is, but I can’t do it. I can’t. I thought the hardest thing would be her and Archie going on a date, but no. It’s the fact that they’re going to go on a date and then we’re going to spend a weekend surrounded by roses while she goes on and on and on about every single detail.”

            “Breathe,” Jughead said unhelpfully. “Just tell her you don’t wanna talk about it. Tell her it’s too hard.”

            “But I already told her I was fine with it.”

            “Yeah, I don’t know why you did that.”

            Betty slammed her locker shut. “Because. If Archie doesn’t like me and she doesn’t like me, but they do like each other, then I shouldn’t stand in their way. They shouldn’t not date just because I’m hopelessly in love with both of them.”

            Jughead nodded even though Betty could tell he didn’t quite understand. “Would this be the wrong time to suggest polyamory?”

            Betty laughed. “Yes, it would be.”

            Jughead smirked. “Sorry.”

            Betty pushed him away and they started to walk out of the building. Once outside, Betty caught a glimpse of Archie opening the door of his dad’s car for Veronica. She smiled at him, the same way she smiled at Betty, and he smiled back, in a way that he had never done for Betty. Betty lost her breath at the sight, stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

            Jughead wrapped his arm around her waist. “No use looking at that.”

            “I can’t do this. I really, really can’t.”

            “Fake sick.”

            “I’m too nice.”

            “Being nice sounds awful.” Jughead pulled her in the opposite direction of Archie and Veronica. “I mean, I get it’s like, your aesthetic and everything, but remind me to never try it. I much prefer to be the bitchy emo friend.”

            Despite herself, Betty laughed and leaned into his side. She let him talk the whole way back to her house and even let him talk straight through the first movie. Her worries changed from being about Archie and Veronica to being about what her mom was going to say when she came home and found Jughead in her bed. And by the time Veronica texted to say that she was on her way to pick her up, Betty almost felt like she could do this.

 

In Veronica’s car, Betty sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window at the rapidly passing fields. The sun had gone down a long time ago, leaving the night sparkling with stars. Betty could hear her own breath over the radio crooning out bad pop music that Veronica sang along with under her breath.

            It had been an hour of this. Betty, silent, pressed against the window. Veronica, singing, her hands tight on the steering wheel. And Betty couldn’t take it anymore. She broke the spell with the words, “How was it?”

            Veronica glanced at her, then looked back at the road. “I didn’t think you’d want to know.”

            Betty shrugged, shifted so that she was sitting upright. “I want to be a good friend. I can’t say it’ll be fun to listen to, but... if you’re excited about it, then I’m excited for you. And all I really want is for you two to be happy, so... tell me how it went?”

            “Thanks.” Veronica smiled and her grip on the wheel loosened a little. “But I don’t think me and Archie are going to be happy together anytime soon.”

            Betty frowned. “What do you mean? I thought at Cheryl’s...”

            Veronica shrugged, shook her head. When she looked at Betty, a sad smile lined her crimson lips. “You know how you can have physical chemistry with someone but everything else is just... flat? We spent the entire evening either in awkward silence or disagreeing about politics. It was a disaster.”

            “How?” Betty turned down the volume on the radio and turned in her seat to watch Veronica. “You two are friends. You have plenty to talk about and a lot in common.”

            “Dating’s different, Bets.” Veronica let one hand slide to the bottom of the wheel and she drummed her fingers against the leather. “All of a sudden it’s just you and them. And it either goes really well or falls flat on its face. Rarely is there an in between. Me and Archie, we fell flat on our faces and I kind of wish we had never tried at all.”

            “But you know now. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

            “Maybe? But who knows? Monday morning we could be friends again or we could not even be speaking to each other. And on top of all that, we hurt you and we ruined the memory of what happened in that closet. Is any of that worth it just to know we’re not compatible? We could have been happily suffering our mutual pining romance for the rest of our natural lives. Maybe that would have been better.”

            Betty stayed silent. She couldn’t help but apply that speech to herself. Was life better now that she’d told Archie about her feelings? Or had they irreparably ruined something special? And then there was Veronica. If what she was saying was true, then maybe Betty needed to keep her mouth shut. She could break her heart all over again, ruin what she had with Veronica, and destroy the memory of their kiss. All in one fell swoop.

            “Hey,” Veronica said after a minute. Her tone was light, a smile back on her face. “Are you all right? You seem sadder about this than I am.”

            Betty shrugged, forced a happy expression. “I just really wanted you two to be happy.”

            “You’re sweet, Bets.” Veronica reached over and squeezed her hand. “But I’m happy. I’m with you. We’re on our way into the city for a weekend of pampering and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. Can you?”

            Betty watched Veronica’s mouth move around the words like a shifting bloodstain. Her lashes, dark and luscious, closed over brown eyes. Betty shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

            Veronica raised Betty’s hand to her mouth and kissed her knuckles. Betty smiled, weak, and promised herself she could make it through the weekend without ruining things.

 

Three hours later, Betty lay on her back in the queen bed with Veronica at her side. She stared at the ceiling, drummed her fingers against her stomach, and tried not to listen to Veronica moaning at her side. Whatever the other girl was dreaming about, it was far from PG and Betty didn’t have the guts to wake her.

            She’d nearly gone over her texting limit since they’d gotten to the hotel ninety minutes ago. Not that that had helped anything at all as Jughead continued to prove that his greatest skill was being unhelpful in crisis situations. She’d almost broken down and texted Kevin instead, but he knew where she was and would instantly make the connection between her anonymous crush and Veronica.

            Betty let out a deep sigh. She turned her head to the side, watched Veronica shift in her sleep. She faced away from Betty, so all Betty could really see was the rise and fall of her chest, the restlessness of her legs as she kicked off the covers. On a whim, Betty reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Veronica’s face. Then, unable to stop herself, she continued to brush her fingers through the raven locks.

            Jughead had been right. She was in too deep.

 

The next morning, Veronica woke her by whistling. Betty spent a few extra minutes with her eyes half-closed, a smile on her face as Veronica pranced around the room in her tiny black bathrobe. Then Betty yawned, stretched, and sat up on the mattress.

            “Just in time!” Veronica clapped her hands together. “Room service is on its way. Our first treatment of the day is in an hour – I said we preferred to do mani-pedis first, is that okay? – and then we’re off! Just two girls in love.”

            “What?”

            Veronica laughed as she sat down on the end of the bed, inches from Betty’s feet. She reached out and grabbed Betty’s legs. “We’re doing a couples package, remember? That means a lot of people mistaking us for girlfriends and telling us how cute we are together and how they wish they were lesbians.”

            Betty laughed nervously. “Couldn’t we just tell them we booked it as friends?”

            “Where’s the fun in that?”

            Betty shrugged. She didn’t want to admit that the fun in that was her maintaining a thin hold on her sanity. Veronica patted her legs, then got up to pace around the room some more. Betty followed suit. She pulled one of the hotel’s fluffy white bathrobes over her pink pajamas and sat down at the desk, picked up the newspaper.

            Only seconds later, Veronica grabbed the paper from her as a knock sounded on the door. “The news is only going to stress you out,” she said as she headed for the door. She opened it and ushered in the room service cart, helped to set it up on the little table at the side of the room. She thanked the man who had brought it, tipped him, and then closed the door behind him.

            Betty wandered over to take a look at the food and sat down when Veronica pressed down on her shoulders. “This weekend is all about relaxing,” she said. “I know it’s been stressful lately and we’ve been up and down and everything’s been twisted upside down and backwards, but I’m hoping we can get back to normal here.” She pressed a kiss to the top of Betty’s head. “I love you, Betty Cooper.”

            “And I... love you, Veronica Lodge.” Betty fought to keep the words light as Veronica sat down across from her. She dipped her eyes to her food fast, started to shovel it into her mouth. She nodded along to the conversation, let Veronica feed her bits of this or that from her plate. Betty could hear her heartbeat and she wasn’t quite sure how Veronica couldn’t.

            They moved on from breakfast and on to their first treatment. Conversation got easier and soon Betty was laughing, returning Veronica’s light touches, and smiling whenever someone complimented them on what a great couple they made. Okay, so maybe Betty was able to do that because she’d stopped reminding herself that they weren’t a couple. She’d gone with the flow and accepted every word of praise, leaned into Veronica’s touch, and didn’t stop herself from staring at the other girl. She was perfectly aware that the entire illusion would shatter once they got back to their room and that that would break her heart. But she couldn’t stop herself from allowing the dream to be real, if only for a day.

            She faked fatigue when they got back to the room after dinner and Veronica left her alone to change into her pajamas, brush her teeth, and get ready for bed. Looking into the mirror, Betty pursed her lips and swallowed hard. She could hear the soft buzz of the TV in the other room, knew Veronica was sitting on the bed, stretched out. Betty took a deep breath.

            “You can do this,” she whispered to herself. “One more day and then you’ll be home again and everything will go back to normal. One more day.”

            She pushed away from the bathroom sink and headed back to the bedroom. As she took her place on the bed, Veronica headed for the bathroom. Betty glanced at the TV – a rerun of That 70s Show was on – and turned the volume up a bit.

            When Veronica came back, she snuggled under the covers and moved closer to Betty. She rested her head on Betty’s shoulder and let out a deep sigh. “This is what it should be like,” she murmured.

            “What what should be like?” Betty asked, glancing down.

            “Dating. Relationships.” Veronica’s eyes were closed, her lips moving against Betty’s shoulder. “It should all be this easy. Just... you and me and spa weekends and laughing about stupid stuff and watching TV in bed. This is what I want.”

            “Veronica.” Betty had lost her breath. The word came out almost inaudible. “Do you mean that?”

            “Huh?” Veronica raised her head. Her eyes sparkled, maybe with tears and maybe with fatigue. She shook her head and smiled. “Sorry. I’m just... I really thought Archie might be the one. And I know that’s stupid, we’re in high school, but... I didn’t expect it to go so badly so fast.”

            “Right.” Betty felt her heart restart as a weight fell on her chest. She shifted closer to Veronica and started to rub her back. “But there’s no need to worry. You’re going to live a long, fantastic life, and you’re going to do things that you never imagined you would do. And along the way, you’re going to find the right guy. And he’s going to love you more than the sun and the moon and the stars. And it’s going to be just as easy as this.”

            “Or girl,” Veronica said.

            “What?”

            “You said I’d find the right guy. But it might be a girl.”

            “What?”

            Veronica pulled a confused face and looked up at Betty again, rested her chin on her shoulder. “Have I not told you this yet? Sorry, it’s just I was out to everyone in New York and I guess I just forgot that I never told anyone here.” She let out a slight laugh. “Bet that really changes your opinion of sleeping in the same bed as me.”

            “No. Of course not.”

            Veronica pressed a kiss to Betty’s shoulder. “I do love you, Betty. I love you a lot.”

            “Veronica...” Betty bit her bottom lip, suddenly afraid now that she met her friend’s eyes. But if there was ever a time to do this, ever a time when Jughead’s advice might actually make sense, it was now. Betty licked her lips, took a breath. She could be brave. She could do this. “What if it could be this easy?”

            “Of course it can be. I’ve always wanted to fall in love with my best friend, so—”

            “What if your best friend was in love with you?”

            “That would be great, but—”

            Betty sighed and did the one last thing that she could do to make Veronica understand. She pressed their lips together, very briefly, and pulled back to look at her. And when she did, Betty’s heart fell to her feet.

            Veronica, eyes wide, lips parted, looked terrified.

            “I’m sorry,” Betty said. She sat frozen for a split second and then started to move, scrambled to get out of the bed. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”

            “No! No, Betty.” Veronica grabbed her arm and pulled her back down, hard. “I’m not... shit. I’m just surprised. I thought... you love Archie and—”

            “I love you too. More, maybe. I—”

            It was Betty’s turn to get cut off with a kiss. Veronica took her face in her hands and held her gaze right up until their lips touched. Betty moved to cup Veronica’s hands, pressed into the kiss with shaky breath and unsure lips. Veronica coaxed her mouth open, slipped in her tongue, deepening it past what had happened at cheer tryouts, past what Betty had ever done before.

            Veronica pulled back after a minute and rested their foreheads together. She looked up at Betty through dark lashes. “I am so desperately in love with you, Betty Cooper.” She pecked her on the lips, rubbed her bottom lip with her thumb. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over you.”

            “Then don’t.” Betty kissed her again, fervently. She pulled Veronica to her, tangled up their legs under the covers. “You have no idea what it’s been like. Being here with you. Pretending to be a couple.”

            “I know exactly what it’s been like.”

            Betty laughed. “You haven’t been taking advice from Jughead.”

            “Well, maybe I should have been.” Veronica wiped a tear off Betty’s cheek. “He seems to know what he’s talking about.”

            “What happens when the weekend’s over?”

            “Whatever you want. We tell people or we don’t tell people, but no matter what, we don’t forget how easy this is. How right it is.” Veronica gathered Betty’s hands in her own and kissed them. “I love you and I want you to be happy and I will do whatever makes you comfortable for as long as you want.”

            “We can tell people. Maybe not my mom but... everyone else.” Betty smiled and felt a tear drip into her mouth. “God, I just really want everyone to know how happy I am and how much I love you.”

            “Me too.” Veronica kissed her again, soft and sure.

            Slowly, they sunk down into the bed, sharing kisses and letting their hands wander. They fell asleep with their hands in each others’ hair and their lips half an inch apart.


End file.
